Wednesday, May 16, 2007

During WWII the use of national symbols was banned in Norway, so I imagine my grandmother must have been very excited about making a national costume, bunad, for my mother a couple of years after the war. There was still a shortage of supplies at that time, and people had to make do with what they had and recycle and trade, and I think this bunad is a fascinating example. The black wool fabric used for the skirt, vest and bonnet used to be my mom's grandmother's shawl, the printed apron was a Sunday best kerchief from a neighbour, and I remember there was a square filigree brooch that used to be someone's belt buckle. My grandmother did the embroidery and the lace herself.

My mother just headed over to my brother's to deliver her old bunad to her oldest granddaughter who will be the third little girl to wear it on Constitution Day tomorrow. It makes me go all sappy!

I wrote a post last year about Constitution Day and the bunad tradition (scroll down for gorgous bunad pictures from Husfliden).

I don't have a bunad myself, but recently I came into possession of this gorgeous item, so I might have to do something about that:

it's old and battered and in need of a professional cleaning, but it's nevertheless the gilded silver belt my great aunt wore with her bunad, and to me it's invaluable. Most of the time when we talk about the bunad tradition and folk costumes focus is on the fiber, the embroideries, the weaving and the lace, but I think the jewellery is just as interesting. In Norway you never see people wear this kind of jewellery with anything but their bunad, but I have always thought that a belt like this or a big sølje would look fabulous with a simple black dress.

what a lovely story behind your bunad and what a wonderful family heirloom, apart from the fact that it is stunningly beautiful!

i have a national costume myself (not norwegian obviously) that my mother made for me when i was young and doing folk dancing. although we were living in australia she managed to source all manner of materials to make it look authentic.

in fact i have a black velvet apron that she embroidered with cross stitch flowers...it is amazing she had the patience. i also have some black hand knitted knee high socks which were also embroidered with flowers.

I totally agree with your notion of using søljer for other things than just bunader. I'm saddened by the fact that I use my søljer so little. In my family everybody knows that I love my bunad, and so I've been given many of the old søljer in my family as inheritance. I would like to use them more often, but I have to say I do not yet have the courage... Maybe soon it'll come? Anyway, thank you for a beautifl post!

No one in my family here in North American has a bunad, but we do wear søljer. It's the tradition that each bride is given a sølje on her wedding day, which she wears on her wedding dress. Then they are generally worn for special dress-up occasions. We wear a Tronder sølje, with dangling solar wheels. Every time I wear mine, people always ask about it, as it's large and, certainly by California standards, unusual.